The Band
by NikonJeb

Comment:
Having recently tried my hand at shooting a 4-piece rockability band in a similarly tight, small environment, I completely get the challenge of creating a well-composed photo without the distraction of clutter from audio equipment, etc. Frankly, I think this is an appropriate entry for the challenge. It's full of distracting elements, yet it works well in highlighting the four musicians in the context of their venue. Actually, these kind of performances are most successful when the musicians create sounds that transcend the visual environment, when the music overwhelms all the other senses.

So... in a perfect visual world this image wouldn't have: a table intruding on the right, a microphone bumping into the forehead of the seated acoustic player, a music stand hiding the bongo player's right hand, a mic boom with green wire cutting her torso in two, the backgound bass(?) player's hands and instrrument covered by the singer, a disembodied head about the bassist and singer, a dark picture frame as the background to the singer's profile, a bright reflection on the floor that draws the eye away from the subject(s), a high contrast paned door wth a parking lot through it, distracting elements on the left border (red chair, table, water bottles, boom stand base, etc.).

And... despite all the distraction, this photo provides a sense of place and a sense of purpose - to make engaging music that makes anything visual completely irrelevant. I like it. I want to hear it.

Culmstock Beacon
by P-A-U-L

Comment:
I like the muted color palette, which perfectly reflects the grey weather and represents the "landmark" without idealizing the the scene, There's a sense of place and surrounding space that's quite effective. I'm conflicted about the large amount of space to the left of the subject. While it does emphasize the expanse of the valley below, it also reveals the slightly distracting dark foliage and rectangular blocks on the near horizon - I wonder if it might be better to crop the left side in to the point of losing the darker objects.

The Chrysler Building
by PennyStreet

Comment:
This was a 7 from me, Penny. Had I looked more carefully, I'd have seen the title mix-up, but it played no part in my scoring. I love the processing in general, but admit to being among those in opposition to borders. I also think the vignettes in upper left and lower right might be toned down a bit, but this is all largely irrelevant personal preferences. The overall impact of this shot is powerful and makes effective use of tilting.

Everyone has Dreams
by pixelpig

Comment:
These monotone, flip and bend abstracts that you've been doing are really evocative. I've messed with this technique and had nothing like this come from it. Going to have to give it another try. Your work is inspiring for me.

Under the red roof
by primabarbara

Comment:
Barbara - I was one of your 4's on this image - obviously out of sync with the masses, but here's why I landed low on it:

There are certainly attractive elements here (graceful arcs of the river bank and the bridge echoed by the dark tree trunks to the right; the red/black contrast of foliage and tree are nice elements). The reds of the leaves at the bottom of the image are deep and opaque by virtue of having no backlighting. But the backlit reds at the top of the frame the are way oversaturated to me, to the point that they overwhelm everything else in the image.

But clearly my assessment doesn't align with the photo's scoring and ranking... and my tastes tend to be with monochrome or more subtly saturated scenes. That's what I like about DPC - there's room for all of us. Congrats on the 6+ score and excellent placing.

leaves fall. a page turns.
by tanguera

Comment:
The minimalist approach intersects with the complementary color palette and quirky story (original and interpreted by Don and Mita) come together so well.

Falling in Every Direction
by posthumous

Comment:
I'm a sucker for camera motion effects whether caused by car or otherwise. This is remarkable, Don. As noted in your title the motion seems to be multidirectional in ways that don't seem easily explained by direction of travel only. Wind? Bumpy ride? Rollover? However you brought this to life is less relevant than the disorienting result.

Stalking the Stalker
by vawendy

Comment:
I originally found the substantial negative space to be too much. But then, the expanse of blacks make the distraction of the second stalker more powerful. I keep landing there and losing the subject. I can't help but think that if this were my image, the disembodied eyes might be appearing in unexpected places throughout my image collection. Cool idea.

landscape with ladder
by tnun

Comment:
What I really like is the blending of images that on first impression I see as a grunge textured sky... but after sinking in for a bit, begins to reveal itself as its own image.

Entrance
by posthumous

Comment:
Hard to imagine that in a Extended rule set that an image of this visual and thematic complexity would end up here. This is a remarkable and powerful composition.